Although I sometimes answer the question, “How long have you been with Laser Focus World?” with the quip, “Forever!” it’s actually been since 1997. I was hired as a senior editor by then Group Editorial Director Jeff Bairstow and Executive Editor Heather Messenger. At the time, I didn’t understand the magazine’s long editorial heritage covering the latest developments in photonics (which we called optoelectronics). Nor could I imagine how we would be riding the economic and digital tides of the 21st century. Furthermore, in what seemed like very quick order Heather suffered a tragic death, Jeff left the company and began his long running "In my view” column on the back page, Steve Anderson became editor in chief, and I took on an additional role heading WDM Solutions, a spinoff that rode the telecom bubble up, down, and out.
I'm describing this tumult to help convey one important fact—that through it all, the magazine and Internet entity known as Laser Focus World prospered. The editors often joked that no one in his or her right mind would create a trade magazine like Laser Focus World now because the field of photonics is so diverse. It is not really a cohesive "industry" at all, and it has far too many small companies and too few large ones to support an advertising-based publication.
In fact, these elements have proved the basis of our longevity while other trade magazines—and high-tech industries—have come and gone. So as part of celebrating our 50 years in publishing, I would like to thank our past editorial leaders for guiding this crazy idea: Bill Bushor (founding editor), Howard Rausch, John Camuso, Morris Levitt, Lewis Holmes, Jeff Bairstow, Heather Messenger, and Steve Anderson.
For the current issue, our former managing editor and long-time contributor, Jeff Hecht, continues his series celebrating each major category of technologies and products as we have covered them over the years and looking ahead. His topic this month is solid-state lasers (see page 23), and there's no doubt we've come a very long way from that first glimmer of laser light in a ruby.
Conard Holton | Editor at Large
Conard Holton has 25 years of science and technology editing and writing experience. He was formerly a staff member and consultant for government agencies such as the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority and the International Atomic Energy Agency, and engineering companies such as Bechtel. He joined Laser Focus World in 1997 as senior editor, becoming editor in chief of WDM Solutions, which he founded in 1999. In 2003 he joined Vision Systems Design as editor in chief, while continuing as contributing editor at Laser Focus World. Conard became editor in chief of Laser Focus World in August 2011, a role in which he served through August 2018. He then served as Editor at Large for Laser Focus World and Co-Chair of the Lasers & Photonics Marketplace Seminar from August 2018 through January 2022. He received his B.A. from the University of Pennsylvania, with additional studies at the Colorado School of Mines and Medill School of Journalism at Northwestern University.